SLI Question

[Jakesteads]

When setting up an SLI system do you need to have both of the exact Video cards, and does your MB come with the software to set them up. Thanks

 

[Pancakes]

Yes they have to be the exact same cards but they can be different brands.


Most motherboards come with a little chip inbetween the two pci-express slots that you simply just flip over so it says Sli
Some motherboards you simply just go into your bios settings and select sli mode

 

[The_Other_One]

Yes, you need identical cards. Both the videocards and the motherboard should have the software.

Damnit Pancakes, you beat me!

 

[i.Angel]

Yes they have to be the exact same cards but they can be different brands.

Really? I thought they had to be the exact same cards. What if one has a higher clock and all that? Doesn't really matter I guess...

 

[Jakesteads]

i have a Geforce 6800GT so i should be good to just get another one of those,doesnt have to be the same name brand but just a 6800gT?

 

[diduknowthat]

i have a Geforce 6800GT so i should be good to just get another one of those,doesnt have to be the same name brand but just a 6800gT?

yeah

 

[Geoff]

It only has to be the same type of card, although its recommended that you have two identical cards, this will increase performance and lower the chance of it not working.

 

[iggy101]

Yes they have to be the exact same cards but they can be different brands.

Cool i never knew that!! i thought they had to be same brand same model everything cool

 

[diduknowthat]

Cool i never knew that!! i thought they had to be same brand same model everything cool

it used to be that way, until they released a new driver or something

 

[Mr.Suave]

Really? I thought they had to be the exact same cards. What if one has a higher clock and all that? Doesn't really matter I guess...

if one is higher then it will go lower to match the slower card.

 

[i.Angel]

Ahhhh ok I see! Sweet, guess you learn something new everyday.

Speaking of all this SLi talk, I havn't heard much about ATi's Crossfire. Last time I checked it wasn't matched up to the speed of SLi (or it was having bugs), but I'm not sure about now though...

 

[Mr.Suave]

ya it has a few bugs and doesnt quite perfrom as well but its understandable as Crossfire is newer than SLI.

 

[LITHIUM]

if one is higher then it will go lower to match the slower card.

that is what i was thinking myself

 

[The_Other_One]

Hmm...we'll I've never worked with SLI, but I would go with identical cards, both model and brand, if at all possible. Hmm...I'm sure some site's tried this with different cards, time to google it!

Example: You can use a GeForce 7800 GTX from manufacturer ABC with a GeForce 7800 GTX from manufacturer XYZ.
Note: You must still use two graphics cards that have the same GPU. For example, a GeForce 7800 GT must be matched with another GeForce 7800 GT (not with a GeForce 7800 GTX or a GeForce 6800 Ultra). Mix and Match Graphics Cards with Different Input/Output Ports
Example: You can use a GeForce 6800 GT with Dual DVI & TV-out with a GeForce 6800 GT with Dual DVI & VIVO.

--edit--

Just found this...

Example: You can use a GeForce 7800 GTX from manufacturer ABC with a GeForce 7800 GTX from manufacturer XYZ.
Note: You must still use two graphics cards that have the same GPU. For example, a GeForce 7800 GT must be matched with another GeForce 7800 GT (not with a GeForce 7800 GTX or a GeForce 6800 Ultra). Mix and Match Graphics Cards with Different Input/Output Ports
Example: You can use a GeForce 6800 GT with Dual DVI & TV-out with a GeForce 6800 GT with Dual DVI & VIVO.

Mix and Match Graphics Cards with Different Clock Speeds
Example: You can use a higher clocked GeForce 6600 GT 550/525 with a standard clock GeForce 6600 GT 500/500.

Mix and Match Graphics Cards with Different Memory Sizes
Example: Using Coolbits, you can use a 128MB GeForce 6800 GT with a 256MB GeForce 6800 GT.

Note: NVIDIA recommends that SLI customers, whenever possible, purchase graphics cards with matching memory sizes. When dissimilar memory sizes are enabled to work together using Coolbits (value set to 18), the effective memory size for each card becomes the smaller of the two memory sizes.

 

[Jakesteads]

time to find a site with the same video card thanks for all the help!

 

[Mr.Suave]

also there is one exception to the mis and match memory, you cant SLI a 7800gtx 256mb w/ a 7800gtx 512mb. not sure y but i read it when on nvidias site when i was researching on it.